Disappearance of 35 university students

In June 1991, the disappearance of 35 students from the Universidad Nacional del Centro was reported. This event occurred in the context of an escalation of violence against the university community, where students allegedly linked to the Shining Path PCP were subjected to disappearances and extrajudicial executions perpetrated by paramilitaries. These disappearances totaled several dozen during this period. The best known case of this pattern of violence was the arrest of UNC Vice Rector Jaime Cerrón Palomino on June 8, 1990, whose body was found lifeless with signs of torture on June 19. The killings of students had been initiated by the Shining Path PCP in 1989, but then the university community became the target of disappearances by paramilitary forces.